


bury your ghosts

by cryystal_m00n



Series: obligatory cliche tropes [8]
Category: The Rose (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst, Animal Death, Familiars, Fluff, Getting Together, Ghosts, Human Jaehyeong, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Necromancy, Soulmates, Tarot, Witch Hunters, Witch Woosung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 18:10:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20313811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryystal_m00n/pseuds/cryystal_m00n
Summary: the cards tell stories that only gifted people can understand.  they speak tales in languages most don't know of. woosung doesn't mind them, most of the time. but then again, they don't usually include the messenger too.





	bury your ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> tw//animal killing. it basically starts when bri tells jae to look away since he can't stand the sight of blood, and the deer is used as a sacrifice. you can skip that part and just read next scene if it makes you uncomfortable  
tw.2//implied suicide. it's not mentioned, but it is referenced two times, once at the end of the potion brewing scene (you can skip the last three paragraphs there) and once in the paragraph that starts with “this can mean more than meets the eye."  
if you're triggered by stuff like this, please do skip the parts i just told you.  
now, onto the other stuff. i've studied latin for 5 years and i can barely remember stuff from it, so don't expect the latin parts to be ok. i will tell you what they mean in the ending notes, but they're just incantations/spells, so they're not that important to the plot  
i wrote most of this late at night, and ye i did reread over those parts and corrected them, but there may still be mistakes so yeah my bad but i dont really care anymore, i just want this fic out of my life  
yehhhhh i think thats it? anygay, enjoy this, my dudes, dudettes and non-binary friends.  
YEET

the woman picks the death card, unaware of what lays on the other side of the simple black backing.

a card that shows death can mean a lot of things. on its own, it can mean transformation, endings, new beginnings. with _ the lovers _card it can mean giving up on someone, finding a new lover. there are a lot of aspects normal people can’t grasp when it comes to tarot, woosung knows that, but choosing to understand that the cards have different meanings for each of us, that the spirits have contrasting messages for each person that comes to him for a reading, seems to be the hardest thing to understand. 

her face falls as woosung turns each card with a touch of his finger. it’s not because she’s seeing real magic, most think he’s a hoax anyway, but because she sees the cards her own hand had chosen. she doesn’t wait for the reversed eight of cups to turn and finish the story.

“i knew you were just a fake wizard,” she spits out, words venomous as if they would actually have any effect on woosung. 

woosung lifts his glass of wine, dark red, since it makes him look badass and it’s also quite sweet. he says, “i’m a witch, but i’ll drink to that.”

with one more scandalized look, she leaves, slamming the door on his little shop a tad too forcefully. 

his familiar jumps on the table, rolling in the deck of cards and sending some on the floor. woosung sighs, but doesn’t push the gray cat away. instead, he moves his hand from where it’s resting on the stem of his glass and puts it on the top of the cat’s head. “i know hajoon, i should take the death card out,” the witch mumbles, patting down the soft fur.

“or you could just pick the cards yourself, woosung,” a voice says from behind him. he doesn’t look up to meet the spirit’s eyes, too caught up making hajoon’s fur stick up in a funny way. 

“hm… consider this, my dear dojoon. i don’t want to.” he finally turns to face the spirit, but there is nothing but air in front of him. he faces the chair where the woman sat not even minutes ago, and finds dojoon’s transparent form grinning at him. “besides, there’s no fun in me shuffling the decks until cards fall out.”

hajoon meows, standing up and walking over to dojoon’s side. he plops down the spirit’s arms, using his demonic powers to actually _ sit _on the ghost. “he called you lazy,” dojoon says.

“i-- i _ know _ what he said, idiot! i’m linked to his dumb brain! i have to hear him rant about how he wants to bring yo--” suddenly, hajoon is back in his human form, casting a spell at the young witch to shut him up. 

“and you call _ me _ dumb when you can’t even keep your mouth _ shut _,” the familiar scoffs, leaning back on dojoon’s chest. the ghost wraps his arms around the demon in his lap, but they go straight through his body. woosung tries to ignore the pained look on his face, not wanting to be even more depressed on this already depressing night.

he does a quick reverse spell and opens his mouth wide now that it can function again. 

“as i was saying before you two rude supernatural beings interrupted me,” he gets two very different eye rolls from said supernatural beings, “i want to let them think they have an option, y’know?” woosung sips his wine. it’s not as sweet as he’d like it normally, but it will do for the night. 

“they never do, you know that,” hajoon says, his voice softer than it was moments ago.

with a sigh, woosung stands up, glass in his hand. he rolls his forefinger once and the scattered cards come together in a single, perfect deck on the table. 

“i’ll go put the closed sign on. you two can go sleep, i have some stuff to work on, ok?”

“don’t overwork yourself again,” dojoon says. 

woosung simply lifts his glass in response. he makes sure that both hajoon and dojoon are no longer in the shop part of his house, before walking over to the door. he’s so tired he doesn’t even want to do the charm on his door, but it’s a must. he can never be too sure, especially with the extremists, the so called human supremacists, the _ witch-hunters _. 

just as he turns the open sign around, the door opens. a tall man stumbles inside, barely holding himself up. he smells of beer and rum and peach vodka and woosung just knows that he will regret the combination in the morning. 

even with the alcohol in his system, the witch can sense that he means no harm. so when he asks for a reading, woosung agrees, because well, he’s always had a softer spot for tall guys who giggle happily when they see colorful crystals, and who hide their adorable smiles behind their sweater paws. 

“what do you want the reading to focus on?”

after a moment of staring at woosung, the man answers, stumbling over his words, “soulmates. i want to k-know if i met mine or not.”

the witch holds back a snort. there’s no such thing as soulmates, but he doubts that the man will listen to him anyway. he shuffles the tarot deck a few times, and then he holds it for him to choose. 

“how many?”

“however many you feel drawn to,” he parrots. it’s the same thing he says every time he has a reading with a new person, what that has never had this experience in their life before. 

the man pouts as he studies the back of the cards. his fingers hover over them, and after a few minutes or so, he pulls out only two cards. 

woosung stares for a moment, but doesn’t dwell on it. he turns them, face up and is left _ speechless _. the moon and the ace of cups. the moon shaped charm around his neck burns his skin, the message from the spirits, those that don’t include dojoon, is loud and clear.

“you didn’t meet them,” he says, ignoring what the great ones have spoken. 

his pout deepens, if that is even possible, and woosung has to hold himself back from smoothing out his frown, from telling him the truth. “really?”

“you’ll meet them soon enough, don’t worry about it.”

“what do i have to pay?” he asks, hands fumbling in search of his wallet. 

woosung stops him, his hand on the man’s wrist. it feels like he’s being electrocuted, but an invisible force keeps him there, his hold unable to loosen. “it’s on the house.”

he smiles, brightening the whole room, the whole street. woosung hates him and the sunshine he radiates. “thanks dude,” he says, “you’re a really awesome witch.”

with that, he leaves, still unsure of his own legs and where they will take him. he does, however, make sure to throw some half assed finger guns at woosung, along with a dumb smirk that was mostly cute, rather than sexy, or whatever he was going for. 

woosung does a quick spell to ensure that his trip home will be harmless and that tomorrow he will wake up without any pain _ or _ memory of what happened in his shop. he erases any trace of _ taver del luna _ from his already blurry memories, any glimpse of his of face that may remain, hidden in the shadow of other thoughts. 

after all, the man can’t know they are destined to be, because in the end, soulmates aren’t a thing. 

* * *

even though woosung’s magic focuses on readings and crystals, he still likes the other ways of expressing his gift. he’s not as good as younghyun at conjuring the dead, or as drawn to the woods and its own spirits as matthew, but he does enjoy dabbling in other forms of witchcraft. his favorite, by far, is potion brewing. 

he likes the way he can feel his magic being poured into the cauldron, how, when he’s finished, he can see it dancing in the droplets that cling to the metal. he likes the fact that he can help others with it, if they are willing to believe in his craft, but above all, woosung likes how there are no spirits to guide him here, how he doesn’t have to use his _ intuition _ . making potions means following rules, following a simple (or complicated) script left from other witches, _ the powerful ones. _

woosung had seen one of the thirteen witches when he was a child, just dipping his toes in the unbelievable amount of magic that’s flowing through him. she was nice, joohyun, the mother of all witches and wizards. she told him he was bound to do great things with his life, help people, break down barriers between them and the hunters. 

he believed her, for a while. he told his mom that he had a _ visit _ , and in response he got praises; he was put on a pedestal. kim woosung, the five year old witch, who had been _ visited _ by _ the most powerful one _. they saw potential in him, the coven was even ready to put him in front of the army, since joohyun told him he would break the walls between the two different (yet so alike) worlds. 

after years, however, they realized that woosung’s potential would be wasted on readings. they abandoned him as soon as his mother died, leaving the once believed to be the chosen one on the streets, like a dog, to fend for himself. 

hajoon found him shivering in the cold, and he quickly bound their souls together. the demon told him it’s because he saw a _ spark _in the young witch, a desire to be alive and do something greater. his familiar helped him learn new ways, he taught him what no one in his old coven would even dream to know. 

hajoon promised him wealth, if he wanted to; he promised him fame, love, an eternal life, all in exchange for being by his side. he told him he had a choice, that he could choose what he had always wanted to do, or he could choose the world. 

woosung chose his cards and crystals, though scared of the demon’s reaction. the demon didn’t seem surprised. he even seemed to be happy, that the power in him didn’t get to woosung’s head. 

slowly, the witch began to believe less and less in the words the _ mother _ had spoke to him many moons ago. he wasn’t destined to be a leader or a chosen one. he wasn’t destined to break down walls and bring together people. he was simply destined to be himself, a witch that wasted his talent on petty crafts, who disappointed the ones around him and who brought death into people’s lives. 

the furious bubbling of his unfinished brew brings him back in the present. his potion is boiling over the rim of the rusty cauldron, but he can’t bring himself to care about it. he blows once, and the fire dies down. 

if he closes his eyes, he can see _ his _face behind his eyelids, the exact picture he last saw months ago. skin pale, with a yellowish tint, that reminded him of that of a wax figure, so cold to the touch it could compete with snow. 

inhaling deeply, he falls on the chair next to the cracking wood and fuming mixture. 

woosung sighs; he did it again. 

* * *

on sundays, he likes to close the shop early, since not that many people come into it anyway on the weekends. usually, by six in the evening he’s already locked in his study room, talking with dojoon or hajoon as he tries to read. usually, woosung doesn’t let customers in after five. 

usually, there is no tall man in front of his shop, looking inside. it’s the same man from almost three weeks ago, this time sober. he knocks on the glass window six times, with a pause of a breath in between them; hajoon’s special invocation. he has no idea how or _ why _he knows it, but he’s sure that this means he has to let him inside now. 

the door opens, courtesy of woosung’s magic, and he stays there, in the doorway, staring at him with a confused look. surely, his spell didn’t wear off. it _ must _be hajoon’s fault, since he did knock in the exact way one must use in order to summon his familiar. 

the man mirrors his confusion. “you must be hajoon’s coworker, right?”

dumbfounded, woosung says, “what?”

“uh… he told me you may be the one who lets me in… i’m jaehyeong,” he holds his hand out, “nice to meet you…”

woosung looks at his outstretched hand. he rolls his eyes and moves aside. “woosung. hajoon’s… boss, you could say.”

jaehyeong (the name fits him, and woosung is happy he can finally put a name on his pretty face) looks embarrassed as he lets his arm fall back by his side. woosung ignores the slight feeling of hurt he feels from him. 

“woosung… you look really familiar. have i met you before?”

a single drop of sweat falls from his temple. it’s the heat’s fault. “i don’t think so. i’ve never seen you before, sorry.” he takes a sit at his round table, picking up the deck left on it from his previous customer. it’s the spirit animal oracle deck, one that he uses quite often when the humans want more guidance. he starts shuffling it, a nervous habit he’s had for as long as he can remember. 

“you do tarot readings? that’s so cool! are you a real witch?” jaehyeong looks around as speaks, eyes full of wonder and innocence and desire to learn more. 

“it depends,” he says cooly. 

“on?”

“on the nature of the human i’m reading for.”

jaehyeong frowns. he points at the chair, the exact one he sat on weeks ago. woosung nods, eyes focused on the middle of the table. he doesn’t dare to look up, in case just one meaningful eye contact could break his spell. “can i get one?”

just as he says this, a card falls from woosung’s stack, landing face up on the table. it’s the dolphin spirit, _ this and that are true _. the forces are really out to expose him today. 

“what does it mean?” jaehyeong whispers.

woosung picks the card back up and puts in the middle of the deck, mixing them until it gets lost in the colorful array of other cards. “it means nothing.”

“that’s where he’s wrong,” hajoon suddenly appears next to jaehyeong, scaring the poor man. he gives him a wicked smile, “hi, jae. long time no see, huh.”

jaehyeong looks at him as if he’s seen a ghost, which really, hajoon does remind woosung more of a ghost than dojoon the friendly ghost does. “what do you mean he’s wrong?”

the demon produces the exact same card from somewhere behind him and holds it between his forefinger and middle one. the cheap trick impresses the taller man, and the little pang woosung feels in his gut is _ clearly _not jealousy. he can do it too, he just chooses not to pull the childish magic out of his sleeve. 

“this card right here tells you that you shouldn’t trust everything people tell you. that, while it can be the truth, it can be a lie as well. it also tells you that your intuition may be true in some aspects, young paladin. so, too long; didn’t listen, be as smart and intuitive as a dolphin.” he gives jaehyeong the shiny piece of paper. “a gift for you, from the wicked witch,” he points at woosung. 

his own familiar whispers something inaudible to jaehyeong, something that makes the man blush and look down, an embarrassed smile on his face. 

“where did you meet anyway?” 

“at the morgue,” hajoon answers, “we’re best friends now!” woosung looks at the demon mortified. hajoon rolls his eyes and says, loud and clear, in the witch’s head: _ what? you needed a liver! i wasn’t going to bring you a cow one! _

“i’m a criminologist, and i was leaving when i found hajoon waiting outside. i’m sorry to hear about your cat passing, but the human morgue isn’t really the place to try and find its body, you know?”

“my cat? oh right! my cat, right! he died such a horrible death, i’m sure he was in immense pain when the piano fell on him from the fifth floor,” he tries to sound sad, but in this moment he really wishes his cat was dead and back in hell. 

jaehyeong looks as worried as any normal person would upon hearing woosung, but hajoon is quick to try and throw his arm around his neck (he does manage, but it’s awkward with the slight difference between the two. he wonders how funny _ he _would look if he were to try and do this too. after his poor calculations, woosung is sure he would seem like a clown). “off we go! we have stuff to do! tell dojoon i’ll be back before twelve and that if he dares to cuddle you instead of me, he’s dead!” 

“it was nice to meet you, jaehyeong…”

“lee! you probably don’t need my last name, but like… in case you want to look me up and see that i’m an actual criminologist and that i wasn’t like… you know, stealing body parts from the morgue,” he laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck while avoiding any type of eye contact with woosung. 

“lee… are you related to _ the _lees?” 

the lee family, the most well known witch-hunter family in south korea. also known as the bastards who have been trying to drain woosung of his power and then kill him. he can’t be related to them. it would mean they’re out to kill again. 

“ah… lee sunmi was my grandma… but don’t worry, they disowned me years ago. something about not paying the lee name justice and choosing to be a mere human. and besides!” he rushes to say, “it’s not like you’re an actual witch anyway. so don’t worry! _ nothing _ bad will happen to you.”

“boring! let’s _ go _!” hajoon yells, pulling the man towards the door. “don’t forget to tell dojoon what i said!” he says over his shoulder.

“who’s dojoon?” he hears jaehyeong ask.

“my boyfriend but he doesn’t know it yet. he’s kinda old fashioned and i’m--”

their voices get cut as the door shuts closed. he walked into this, into this… this _trap_. of course they sent a young, good-looking, funny, cute, with a voice as deep as the ocean and probably smart guy to distract woosung. 

a card falls from the packet, hajoon’s laugh resonating through the room. the picture of a seahorse faces him. _ trust and wait _. 

yes, that’s what he should do now. he should wait. for all he knows jaehyeong could be telling the truth. 

* * *

_ “i managed to bring him back!” _ younghyun says the moment woosung picks up the phone.

“but?”

_ “he doesn’t remember you and… i’ve been taking care of him for a while… last night he told me fell for me,” _ the necromancer sounds guilty, but he should know better. it’s not his fault. it all happened because of woosung. 

woosung feels tears falling down his cheeks, but he ignores them. with a steady voice, he says, “take care of jaehyung, bri. god knows i couldn’t.”

“that’s not true, woosung. it’s not you--”

he hangs up before younghyun can finish, and once he is alone again, he lets himself sob. 

* * *

sooner than he would’ve liked, jaehyeong finds his own little place into _ taverna del luna _ . he comes over so often that woosung wonders how the fuck did he not gather the fact that he’s a witch. whenever he sees the witch he greets him with a _ hello, fake witch _and sure, it’s funny but can he not feel the magic flowing from him? can he not see the unusual things that await in the corner of his eyes only to disappear once he looks at them?

he must be pretending, there’s no other explanation. it’s either that or he’s just so goddamn _ oblivious _ to everything around him. woosung wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the true reason he’s not a hunter is because he can’t sense the magic. 

he sees jaehyeong anywhere he goes now, there is a bit of him, something that reminds the witch of the human in everything. it’s as if he let a part of himself around every corner, in hopes that woosung will not forget him. that’s not such an easy thing to do when jaehyeong is supposedly the one for him. 

but then again, soulmates don’t exist, and even if they do, they’re pulled out of your grasp by the angel of death. the one you, yourself, brought. soulmates don’t exist. _ soulmates don’t exist. soulmates don-- _

woosung throws his book on the ground, standing up forcefully. he runs to his room, heads straight to the closet, to the hidden box. taking it out with shaky hands, he tries not to cry. this is for the best. 

he thinks of younghyun’s place, imagines the small and dark apartment in his mind, and in the dead silence, only his whisper is audible. 

_ ibi me accipere. _

magic moves out of him, engulfing the room with shades of blue and red. each spark takes him further from his house and closer to younghyun’s. when he opens his eyes, jaehyung is there, staring at him._ he doesn’t recognize you, idiot _.

“is younghyun home?” 

jaehyung’s face lights up at the mention of the necromancer, but it quickly turns back to normal. “he’s out right now! do you want me to send him a message from him?”

woosung sighs, letting the box down on the couch next to jae. “no, i’m just giving him these… memories. i have to move on, and i think he may get a better usage out of them, you know?”

just like the same jaehyung he loved, this one starts rummaging through the contents of the box, pulling out hoodies, jewelry, a golden pair of glasses and a plushie, a dusty and old turtle, who’s seen better days. 

he puts the glasses on his nose, not pushing them up all the way. when he turns to ask woosung how he looks, woosung is already gone, only particles of his magic left in the air, invisible to the untrained eye. 

he loved jaehyung, but that was in the past. that _ has _to remain in the past.

this is the last page of this seemingly never ending chapter in woosung’s life. he finally turns a new page now; or at least, that’s what he tells himself. 

* * *

the _ visits _ usually happen during the solstice, since that’s when the dead witches have gathered enough power to come back to the living world. it is said that you only have one _ visit _ in your lifetime, and that only if you’re lucky. woosung knows that in his old coven, only six witches have been paid a _ visit _ by them. 

so really, when he comes into his room one early morning, barely dragging his feet from how tired he is, it’s understandable he screams the moment his eyes find the person laying on bed, without a care in the world. 

there stands, jung jaehyun, fifth most powerful witch, browsing through his ipad like it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever seen. 

he didn’t expect a _ visit _, that’s for sure. 

“oh great, you’re back. i was worried i’ll have to wait around the whole day,” jaehyun says, standing up and materializing in front of woosung from nothing. “jaehyun, a pleasure to meet you.” he gives the witch a dimpled smile and now he can understand why they said people fell for him so easily. 

“i know… why are you here?”

“i’ve been watching over you. and _ boy _ are you a moron.”

“hey!”

“let me finish.” jaehyun rolls his eyes when woosung glares at him. when he doesn’t open his mouth again, he continues, “as i was saying, i’ve been watching over you. now, you read why they killed me, right?”

“you fell for a hunter. i don’t see what that has to do with me, though?”

“i fell for taeyong, the most fearsome hunter of this century, that’s right. and he fell for me. his family captured us, killed him, their own _ blood _in front of my eyes and then tortured me until my last breath. i was too afraid to do anything, i was petrified. i saw my lover die and i still hate myself for it.”

“but… didn’t he join you on the other side?”

“he did…” jaehyun’s smile gets sadder, “and somehow, he still loves me. but because of me he couldn’t live his life.”

woosung frowns, “are you telling me i should give up on jaehyeong? to push him away? is that it?”

jaehyun’s hand rests on his shoulder. the cold sensation makes woosung shiver. “you misunderstood me. you shouldn’t do that, woosung. as much as you hate the idea, he’s your soulmate, he _ is _ your twin flame, the one yerim binded your soul to. what i’m trying to tell you is to _ not _be scared of this. you may think it will hurt you, but sooner or later you’ll realize.”

“is him being my soulmate what witch joohyun meant when she said i will bring our worlds together? he asks, looking up at the spirit and waiting for a response.

the man shrugs, his hand falling from his shoulder until he can point at woosung’s heart with his forefinger. “i don’t know what she meant, she is the only one who can see the future clearly. but what i do know, woosung, is that you should follow your heart, as cliche as it sounds. use it to conquer your fear,” as he speaks, his form slowly disappears. “i trust you, woosung. i know you’ll do the right thing for yourself and him as well.”

woosung blinks and then he’s alone again, the sun peeking through the blinds. he falls on the bed, hugging his pillow close to his chest. he takes a deep breath and knocks on the pillow six times exactly, with a short pause of a breath. hajoon is next to him, in his cat form, in a second, already cuddling his side. 

it’s a lot easier to fall asleep when there is a warm body next to his. 

* * *

dojoon’s been dead for a long time. so long that the moment he saw woosung’s laptop he was ready to kill it and maybe burn the whole house down. he argues that that’s not true and that he was simply surprised by how far technology has come. his familiar likes to joke that he’s older than satan himself, to which, he always gets something thrown at his head. it’s never a hard object. 

(woosung is disgusted by how in love the two are. if it were after him, he’d ban public displays of affection in _ taverna _, but he’s too whipped for his friends to actually create this rule.)

from the moment he saw the love hajoon held for the ghost, he knew he had to do something. which is why he’s been working on a conjuring spell from the moment he realized hajoon’s feelings. it would be by far the most challenging thing he’s ever attempted, but, when he imagines hajoon jumping into dojoon’s arms, dojoon _ finally _being able to hold the demon, woosung thinks that every sleepless night is worth it.

* * *

at exactly three in the morning, on the second week after the summer solstice, he has a vision. in it, the spirits tell him he can try it now, that his power is enough. 

so he calls for dojoon and his familiar. 

a minute later, they are all seated in the middle of the room, holding hands. dojoon is just pretending to hold onto their hands, but that is simply a minor detail. 

“not that i’m not glad to hold hands with my bro and my brofriend,” hajoon speaks, “but why am i holding hands with you?”

woosung shuts him up with a glare. “both of you, concentrate your powers,” he says, closing his eyes. “at the very least, half of it. push it out of your body,” inhale, “and form it into a sphere in front of you.”

“are we in arts and crafts?” dojoon asks.

“silence bottom. just do what i tell you to.”

the room falls silent, only their even breathing filling the space. woosung can feel the circle they’ve formed drowning in power, and with a deep breath to ease his nerves, he starts reciting:

_ salutaret eum congratulans, osiri, et vita in morte, est in nihil et ens, audi vocem meam et illi. _

he gives the incantation his all and yet _ nothing _happens. he’s disappointed in himself, in the spirits. he gave his friends hope only to let them down. 

“you tried… to bring me back…” dojoon says, not believing what just _ almost _happened. 

“i need younghyun’s help,” woosung whispers, “i thought i could do it on my own, without giving another life for yours…”

the ghost tries to hug him, but the comforting act is useless. “it’s ok, i don’t mind it, you know? i’m ok with being a ghost. it’s not that bad, really!” he laughs, though it sounds so _ forced _. 

hajoon, who has been quiet, finally speaks, “_ suam sedem cum digitis nostris. _”

the crickets' songs surround them, a breeze blowing around them. they’re in the woods, and both younghyun and jaehyung are there. 

“you’ll bring him back,” hajoon says through his teeth, pointing at dojoon’s figure, “i don’t care what it takes.”

younghyun sighs. “can you make it be midnight again, bring me four white candles, an urn and get me…” he eyes dojoon, “a deer?”

“you have the knife?”

“yes. and i assume this is his grave?” hajoon nods.

the demon closes his eyes and the woods around them, the whole world slows down, before moving backwards at an abnormal speed. the full moon shines above them and at younghyun’s feet there is a deer, already unconscious. 

the necromancer instructs the four men to sit on either side of the grave, holding the now lit candles. “look away, jae. i know you don’t like the sight of blood,” he tells the human, as he kneels on the grave site. 

the knife glistens in the moonlight as younghyun lifts it above his head, bringing it down straight into the deer’s stomach. "accept our humble gratitude for your offering: in death you give life, may you find wings to the kingdom," he chants, voice loud and clear in the dead of the night. 

he cuts the heart of the animal, slaughtering it quickly, to end its pain as fast possible. he pours the deep red liquid in the urn, lifting it up for the moon to see. 

"osiris, keeper of the gate, master of all fate, hear us!” younghyun says as he dabs his finger in it, before drawing a line down his forehead and another two on his cheeks, making sure to come inwards when he does so. 

"before time and after, before knowing and nothing."

carefully, he drains the blood from the urn onto the grave, then, he shouts, "accept our offering, know our prayer, osiris. here lies park dojoon of the people. please let him cross over, osiris, let him cross over." 

nothing happens. there is quiet and that’s it. 

but then, the candle dojoon was holding with the help of hajoon’s lent powers drops to the ground. all four men look at him and there he is, park dojoon, in flesh, blood and soul, his body opaque, staring back at them. 

hajoon jumps in his arms and kisses him. 

* * *

woosung puts the teabags to infuse in their cups, but he still passes the four hot mugs over to the men in his living room. hajoon hasn’t left dojoon’s side from the moment he realized he can actually hold onto him, which is why they’re both occupying the loveseat, the demon on top of the spirit-turned-human. it feels right at last.

on the other side, jaehyung and younghyun are on the couch, the former falling asleep on the necromancer’s shoulder. 

“thank you for everything, bri,” woosung says softly, cautious not to wake jae up. 

he laughs, “it was my pleasure. you know how much i love the dead.”

there is another implication behind those words, and really, woosung is happy with them, with what the younger means by them. 

but despite the happiness, there is an empty spot in his heart, something that can’t be filled so effortlessly.

_ make yourself happy next _. 

woosung looks at hajoon, but the familiar is busy whispering sweet nothings to dojoon. 

_ i will. _

* * *

his trips to wonpil’s shop are normally uneventful, especially when he doesn’t forget to bring his protective amulets with him, the ones that help him conceal his powers until he can pass as a normal human being. 

but today is not a normal day, it seems. it all starts with him forgetting his amulets on his bed, only remembering of them when he was near the florist’s shop. he thought he could make it back in one piece, he was confident in himself, but five minutes after leaving wonpil’s place, _ they _find him. it doesn’t help they have him cornered in an alleyway. 

he could run, but the hunters have guns and knives and oh so many more dangerously sharp objects that even trying to flee will end up in death for the witch. 

“looks like you finally got me, how many years did it take you, hm?” woosung mocks them, a clear suicide attempt. 

“shut up, or i’ll blow your brains out,” one of them says. 

he rolls his eyes at the brutality. it should be threatening, it should make woosung tremble in fear, but that doesn’t happen. he’s quite fed up with it all, if he’s being honest. 

“well? what are you waiting for? go on then, dude, blow my brains out.”

he cocks his gun, aims it at woosung’s head, and pulls the trigger. there is no bullet smashing his skull, he’s not on the ground, motionless. he’s very well still alive. 

“what the _ fuck _did i tell you?” he can hear jaehyeong’s voice ask. it speaks in a way he’s never heard before. it’s authoritative, and woosung knows what it means. 

“b-but, mister lee--”

“leave before i kill you myself.” there is fire in jaehyeong’s eyes, fire that is enough of a sign to tell the hunters that he’s not joking around. 

they leave, not after having _ growled _at woosung. 

“so you lied to me,” woosung concludes, picking up his tote bag full of the precious ingredients he needs for this week’s brewing. 

jaehyeong coughs, laughing nervously, “maybe? but i didn’t want you to think i will sell you to those fuckers.”

“you kill my people, jaehyeong. why the _ fuck _would i want you in my life?”

“i don’t! i lied about being disowned, but i didn’t lie about not choosing this lifestyle!”

the witch frowns, “care to explain why they seemed to be scared shitless of you if you don’t win their trust by killing witches?”

jaehyeong moves closer, weary of what woosung may do. he doesn’t plan on cursing the… hunter, but he can’t tell him this just yet. 

“i’m… their leader. or, i _ should _ be their leader, but like i told you, i chose to live as a human. they see me as the most powerful hunter because when i was young i made a deal with a witch to leave a village. they _ all _ think i killed her. for the last few years, i’ve been trying to get them to stop their hunting, but most of their dumbasses don’t want to listen. i _ promise _ you, woosung, i would never harm you in any way.”

the witch starts walking home, making sure that jaehyeong is following him. “so you knew i was a real witch?”

“yes.”

“and you called me a fake one because?”

“it was kinda funny,” he says, and woosung _ knows _there is a shit eating grin on his face. 

he passes his bag to the younger, and asks, “what did the deal consist of?”

jaehyeong is quiet for a moment, as if he’s thinking if he should really tell woosung the truth. in the end, he simply says, “i’d never meet my soulmate.”

woosung just fucking _ snorts _. witches are so bad at making deals with human children. 

* * *

once home, the first thing he does is to summon his deck, the one he used the first time jaehyeong came into his shop. he urges the human to take a seat. 

on the way back, he did ask jaehyeong if he remembers the first time they met, and the taller man simply recalled the second time, still unaware of woosung’s spell. so, he thought, might as well come clean about everything, if jaehyeong himself did it. 

he holds the packet out for jaehyeong to choose. he picks out two, and woosung knows what they are before he turns them. 

ace of cups and the moon. the exact same cards he chose on their first meeting. he inhales and begins telling their story. “you came into my shop about two, three months ago. you were so drunk you could barely stand straight. you asked me for a reading on soulmates, which i did for you. you chose these exact cards,” he pushes them closer to the man, “and i told you you still haven’t met him. but i was lying. this,” he points at the ace, “means your soulmate is someone who is a water sign. i am a pisces. it means love, new relationships, compassion. and paired with this,” he picks up the moon card, “it results that _ i _would be your twin flame.” 

woosung lifts his moon necklace up, pushes his sleeve up to show him the moon cycle tattooed on his forearm. “the moon is my symbol. i was born on a night with a full moon. besides that, it means fear, illusions, anxiety and intuition. the spirit guides were straightforward with us, you know?”

“anyway, after our first ‘session’, i erased myself from your memories because i was scared.”

“why were you scared? did you… did you not want us to be together?” jaehyeong sounds hurt, but the witch is quick to deny the accusation. 

“no! i was still in love at the time.” he sighs, places the deck face up, and spreads the cards. he locates the one he needs quickly, and pushes it forward. 

_ death _.

“this can mean more than meets the eye. yes, it means literal death in some cases, but it can mean a change for most…” he’s scared to continue, bile raising in his throat until he’s sure he will throw up. “my last boyfriend… i did a reading for him once and he pulled this card out. jaehyung… he took it a bit too literally. i found him d--”

“you don’t have to continue, i understand,” jaehyeong rushes to say.

woosung nods, and goes on, “when you took those cards out, my brain went into overdrive. i only imagined you ending up in the same way because of me and i just… i couldn’t take it.”

jaehyeong looks up from his cards, confused at the elder’s words. “you think he did it because of you?” woosung’s silence is enough to give jaehyeong the answer he wasn’t looking for. “woo, he didn’t do it because he pulled a death card during your reading, ok? you don’t know what was going on in his head then, i’m sure it was purely a coincidence. you shouldn’t blame yourself for what other people are doing, alright? you can only blame yourself when you interfere with their life with the meaning of changing it so that the outcome benefits _ you _.”

“what about when the spirits tell me something but i’m too afraid to tell the customer in case they might do something stupid?”

the man stands from his chair and walks around the table, kneeling next to woosung’s side. he takes his hands in his, but the witch still has to look at him. “you told me a while ago that this,” he nods towards the cards, “is most often than not general. meaning you can guide them in a better direction, right?” woosung shurgs. “so, yes, you could tell them whatever the guides tell you, or how hades or satan or whatever tickled your intuition in a certain way, but _ you _ could be wrong as well. fuck it, the gods could be in the wrong as well! what does hades even know anyway? i bet he’s an awful dad who leaves his kids on earth to deal with their miseries.” 

the witch cracks a smile, “talking about the gods like that is a sure road to getting your ass killed, hyeong.”

“then let them come at me! i have guns!”

“they have like… armies of the undead, you know?” woosung says, finally looking down at the kneeling man. “they could kill you in your sleep if they wanted to. and to be honest, i think dyonisus would be the bad dad here. he’d probably let his kid like… steal zeus’ lighting or something along this line,” he laughs, the sound making jaehyeong chuckle as well. 

“promise you won’t blame yourself for everything from now on?” jaehyeong asks.

“i’ll try to,” woosung promises. 

the younger squeezes his hand once, lifting his left one slowly to rest on woosung’s cheek. the witch leans into his touch and for once, he feels complete.

* * *

“why are you coloring a piece of pink construction paper?” dojoon questions one morning, after looking over the witch’s shoulder. 

“none of your business.” woosung reaches for the red pen to put on the finishing touches on his masterpiece. “did you get a job?”

“in fact, i did! i’ll work at the morgue with your boyfriend,” he says happily, watching woosung’s reaction closely. 

woosung doesn’t look up from his paper, but he simply responds, “he _ doesn’t _work at the morgue. he has to go there to assist the doctor when they do autopsies or whatever. i don’t know.”

“you don’t know cause the moment he starts talking you zone out and stare at his mouth,” hajoon speaks from somewhere above them. he falls from the ceiling onto the desk gracefully, not making even a single sound. he still has his cat ears on, blending with his light gray hair. 

_ furry _, woosung thinks. 

_ shut up, wolfie _. 

“but joonie, are we going to ignore the fact that he didn’t deny jaehyeong being his boyfriend?”

_ “claudebat.” _ the two shut up in a moment. “much better.”

hajoon moves his lips around, like he’s doing a dumb face yoga exercise, and then he says, “you won’t have to deny it soon enough. let’s go dojoonie, i’ll undo the spell with my lips.” the demon pulls dojoon out of the room, and woosung can only gag at how gross they are now that they can actually kiss and (he shudders at the thought) fuck.

* * *

the bell above the entrance rings as the door opens. woosung looks up from his globe, something he can’t use yet, but the object truly makes his aesthetic come together. “i’ve been waiting for you,” he says. 

jaehyeong snorts. “well i did send you a text telling you i’ll stop by before heading home, sungie.”

“come, come closer, my child,” he doesn’t break character, “let this old witch read your future.”

“you’re like two years older than me, hyung,” jaehyeong sighs, but he still takes a seat in front of him. his bag falls on the floor with a thud; neither of them seem to care. 

“the ghosts and energies have sent you my way, for i have something to give you,” woosung says, nervously playing with the card in front of him. he makes it appear in front of the human, too scared to give it to jaehyeong himself.

the pink piece of paper is covered in small doodles. in the center, there is a full moon, hidden slightly by clouds. the writing on it is done in a sparkly pen, since that was the only thing he could find when in the process of putting down what the paper means. 

_ love charm discount. _

_ one time use. _

_ don’t use it recklessly. _

he’s already blushing when jaehyeong looks at him. this was a bad idea. he curses at past drunk woosung for coming up with this stupid, no good, very bad, _ terrible _idea. 

“a love charm, huh?” jaehyeong slips the ‘coupon’ back in the witch’s direction. “i would like to use it now,” he says, a sparl of mischievousness in his dark eyes. 

“r-right now? okay… i don’t think i have all the requirements for a love charm, but i’m sure i can manage somehow…” he stands and heads for his shelves, pulling out a small bag where he should be able to fit everything.

he feels jaehyeong right behind him, his hands rest on his hips as he turns him around to face him. “i don’t need an actual love charm, sungie. i have you, you’re my _ soulmate _, my love charm. go on a date with me, that’s what i wanted to use the discount for.”

woosung is speechless, left to stare at jaehyeong’s chest as his cheeks burn from embarrassment. he hits the taller’s chest weakly. “you’re an idiot.”

“an idiot who does have a chance to go on a date with you though, right?” the younger gives him a loop-sided smile.

“of course you do.” feeling brave, woosung adds, “you’re my idiot after all.”

jaehyeong blushes as well. getting too shy to hold the elder’s gaze, he looks down. woosung stands on his tiptoes and leans in slowly, nudging the younger’s nose with his. he lets woosung kiss him. it’s slow, initiating. there is no rush in the world right now, they have the time on their side. 

and it’s a heavenly bliss. it’s harmony and alignment.

there is no death card, only the lovers. 

**Author's Note:**

> ibi me accipere= take me there  
salutaret eum congratulans, osiri, et vita in morte, est in nihil et ens, audi vocem meam et illi=come forward, osiris, in life and death, in nothingness and being, hear my voice and bring him back  
suam sedem cum digitis nostris=take us to his resting place, with them on our toes  
claudebat= shut them up  
if yall want an angsty bdsm [jaesung social media au](https://twitter.com/cryystal_aus/status/1145036665230168064) i've got you covered my comrades  
[twitter](https://twitter.com/cryystal_moon)  
[curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/cryystal_moon)


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